Volvo Ocean Race 2001/2002 www.VolvoOceanRace.org zurück zur Übersicht Sydney, Australia, December 21st, 2001 Skipper’s Press Conference Transcript GK – Gunnar Krantz - SEB KS – Kevin Shoebridge - TYCO GD – Grant Dalton – AMER SPORTS ONE JK – John Kostecki – ILLBRUCK CHALLENGE LM – Lisa MacDonald – AMER SPORTS TOO KF – Knut Frostad – DJUICE JF – Jez Fanstone – NEWS CORP NM – Neal MacDonald – ASSA ABLOY Q: What are your feelings on the pit stop in Hobart? LM: It will be quite interesting to take part in the Hobart race this year, and for the Volvo Ocean 60 fleet it will be quite a short stop, but ultimately we’re looking long term. We’ve got the race to Hobart but also we’ve also got the race across the Tasman Sea to Auckland. There are a lot of logistics involved in that for our fleet. GK: The pit stop is a new invention to get closer to the media, to get our faces onto the cameras so I think the idea as such is a very good one, it is always good to try and improve and invent new things. Whether this particular stop is the perfect one I don’t know, but we’ll give it a go, it’s in the rules, and we just follow the rules! KS: Personally I’d rather go straight to Auckland (!) We did it a year ago and it’s going to be very interesting as we all encountered a few problems – illbruck did it, News Corp and Assa Abloy, as well as ourselves. The fleet was actually very split by the time we got to Hobart, usually due to the nature of the race, lots of wind, beating in heavy wind, damage, the lot of it. It’ll be a good thing and a bad thing; it really creates a situation where the fleet could get split quite heavily. As Gunnar says, those are the rules and you run with them. GD: I think everyone would agree with what these guys have said – it’s in the rules and you just go with the rules! Q (to Grant): How is your rehabilitation going? GD: I’ve got something that was built by a doctor in Manley. It’s an injury that is quite common with Ice Hockey players when they get smacked against the wall, and they fracture the little bones that come off your vertebrae; fast bowlers also get it a lot. So it’s an injury they’re used to treating here, they make a plastic thing that sticks around you and keeps you in column, so you can’t get out of column. Q: How do you feel to be part of the Sydney –Hobart as a tradition? GD: Well, it’s certainly got a lot of tradition, its only Aussies that would go South for the Christmas holidays! There is a hell of a lot of tradition and everyone, even the Europeans, know about this race. We’re starting in front of it so I’m not sure if we’re recognisable in the Hobart result, but that would be good. I’ve done about as many as Kevin, half a dozen or so, and its never nice though! But normally you get to stop for a scallop pie and a cascade at the end of it and we don’t get to do that this time! Q (to Jez): I understand Ross has injured ribs too? A: Ross popped some ribs off his spine, he has been taking treatment, he has got some good drugs and he is a tough guy who will tough it out. That really marries what this whole race is about – the race is a mental thing as well as a physical thing and everybody in the race is physically strong…maybe not as strong as when they started… but it is the mind that gets you through the good and the bad times out there. Ross has a strong mind, he’s a tough guy, and he’ll be fine. Q: What significance will the Hobart play in the big picture of the Volvo? GK: As it goes for the Sydney-Hobart I think I am better off than most of these guys here, as I have never done it. Its like going to the dentist, as Grant said the other day, I don’t know how it’s going to be! So I just have an open mind and I look forward to it. I think that Volvo is a big enough event to stand on its own legs, and the Sydney-Hobart has a lot of tradition, therefore it is a very good combination. We have to remember that it’s a hard race to Hobart then a long way to Auckland, and we should focus on that. The one major issue on our boat is that we hope to keep the navigator on until the finish this time that will make it a lot easier for us! KS: It’s obviously a big leg for us, especially after the disappointment of the last leg – so we need to have a blinder basically. We’re not looking at it so much as an eight or nine day leg, but rather a three-day leg to start with, and putting a lot of focus and effort into trying to get into Hobart in reasonable shape. JK: Weather wise it’s looking like it’s going to be a traditional tough race up to Hobart and we’re fortunate enough to have experienced it last year – it’s looking relatively similar so we’re hoping to have learnt from the mistakes we made last year and apply them to this time. We’re hoping we’ll have a nice run down to Auckland and not be beating against the wind like we are going down to Hobart. LM: It’ll be interesting for us as it’s completely different from anything we have raced in before, in that it’s a relatively short sprint distance wise. We’re looking forward to the fleet hopefully staying close together and getting into Hobart in reasonable shape, before ultimately crossing the Tasman Sea. KF: The only concern that I have is that half the times I have done the Sydney-Hobart we were drifting up the river into Hobart, so I hope at least that we will not be doing that this time. It is an interesting part of the race to have a pit stop because you can risk sitting there waiting for a long time. JF: As the Australian entry representing the CYCA we are looking forward to it. It is a great tradition that we’re very proud to be doing for Australia and the CYCA. In the long term, as everyone says, it’s a race to Auckland and that’s our goal in the end, but you have to have a small goal first and that’s to get in to Hobart first. NM: I’m unfortunate enough to have done several Sydney-Hobart’s, so I’m certain it’s going to be a tough start to the overall leg to Auckland. I think it will be a big challenge for us, in a very different situation, to finish a tough sprint-type race and then have to sit on the boat for three hours. I’m not sure how we’ll deal with it, it’ll be something that’s new to us all, and we’ll see how it goes! Q (to Neal): You’ve been called the fastest boat on the fleet, has this put extra pressure on you? NM: Clearly we want to do well, and obviously our sponsors want us to do well, but any extra pressures I don’t think we have any more than the rest of the guys at this table. Q: Are you happy with the rule that you cannot make any repairs whilst in Hobart? JK: I think it’s a fair rule, it’s only 630 miles to Hobart, and we’ve been doing much longer legs in this race where we’ve had to survive without replacing gear. So I don’t think it’s anything unusual. Q (to Lisa): There was a controversial article written during the last leg about your performance, how did you feel when you read it? LM: We don’t actually hear much whilst we’re out at sea, most of the information we receive is weather-related or communications from our shore-based team. We’ve had two pretty tough legs, we were close to other boats and we have found that we have certain points of sail and certain conditions that we are competitive in and we take each new leg as a challenge. We’re very much looking forward to this next leg as it presents a new challenge to the fleet – looking around me the competition’s pretty tough. Q: How do you think you will do next to the maxi boats? KF: The longer you are, the faster you are, so the maxis should be quite a bit quicker than us – that’s a fact. If they can keep their boats together they should be in to Hobart before us, and hopefully they won’t interfere with our racing too much. I think we might have a chance if beating them if we get the right conditions. KS: I think we’re all concerned with the eight boats at this table, and haven’t really given much thought about the maxis. We just don’t want to get into any conflicts or rules issues that might cause a problem for us both. Q: Will having so many other boats around cause a problem for you, you’re used to being just a fleet of eight… NM: One of the things that occupies your mind the whole time is where the rest of the fleet is, and generally speaking there are only eight of us out there so it’s not difficult to identify who’s who. So, it will be something that confuses the issue, but we all have to deal with it. Hopefully within a few hours we will be separated from the rest of the fleet and there will only be a few big boats around, but certainly in the early stage of the race it will add to the confusion. Q (to John): You mentioned earlier that you had learnt some things from the last Sydney-Hobart, what were these? JK: Not to do the Sydney-Hobart again! There were a lot of little things, that were indexly tactical and strategy coming down the coast. It’s hard to get into detail right now, but just having the experience of doing it makes me a lot more comfortable going into this leg, so I’m really happy that we did that. Q: Do you think not having done it before is a disadvantage? JK: I don’t think so, I know Gunnar hasn’t done it before, but I’m sure there are several people onboard his boat who have, so I’m sure he’s got a lot of experience there. Q: How do you think the tactics will be different for the next leg? GK: One tactical issue is for sure to get there in one piece, if we have the Southerly buster then we know how that develops – so to have the boat working and in one piece is a major issue. Then, it depends on how quickly the systems develop, as far as I can see there are very big and quick changes down there and that could turn the whole thing around, as in football, you have to be able to receive a ball to score the goal and that is a major tactical issue there – don’t be too extreme and play it as it comes. Q (to Kevin): Have you had a new rudder made or are you using a spare? KS: We’ve had a spare in for the last couple of days while we have been training, but McConnachy boats here in Sydney finished our replacement rudder yesterday afternoon. So we’ll be fitting that tomorrow and it will be the rudder that will do the rest of the race. It’s built in a slightly different method – it’s more of a one-piece stock as opposed to the two-piece stock that our previous rudder was. We’re happy it’s going do the job for us, although it leaves us with only a day’s sailing with it before the Hobart. We’re pretty confident with the structural side, it’s just more that it doesn’t bind or ride up, we’ll be o.k. though. Q: Was it the method that failed on the last one? KS: It was a standard method of building a rudder, and it’s not as if the builder went into it blindly, it was an approved method but we’re still trying to find out exactly what went wrong with it – we’re in the middle of chopping it up. This new system of building the stock in one piece takes another element of doubt out of it, as you’re not relying on glues. It’s a similar size – it has to be identical in size, shape and weight it’s just a different method of building the stock. Q: Any crew changes for any of you? NM: Yes, we have two crew changes here; one of them is the return of our Spanish member Guillermo who had to leave us for the last leg due to family illness. The other change is Chris Larson, the American sailor onboard. JF: We will be announcing our crew changes closer to the start; but for this leg we have Peter Isler coming on with us, he has always been doing this leg and he will do some other legs with us towards the end of the race when his America’s Cups commitments allow him. We’ll be announcing the crew list shortly. KF: We have Erle Williams replacing Terry Hutchins on this leg; Erle will be doing all the shorter legs with us so that was always planned. We also have one unplanned change as our Swedish Bowman Mikael Lundh got injured on the last leg, and we have been advised by the Doctors to let him have one leg off to rest; he has been replaced by David Blanchfield from Sydney, so we’re pretty strong on Australians for this leg. LM: We’ve got one change, which is a change back, one of my crew from the beginning hasn’t been able to commit to the whole race but she’s coming back for this leg. GD: Keith Kilpatrick who got crook with a sore tummy on the last leg is off, and we’ve got Swedish Freddy Loof who is currently Star World Champion and has won three Finn Gold Cups. He’s a big boy, we’ll soon make him small! KS: We’ve got one change which is Damian Foxall hopping off this leg and Richard Dodson from One World America’s Cup challenge is coming to help with the tactical side. GK: We have two crew changes on SEB, we have David Rolfe leaving us for this leg and he is replaced by Sean Clarkson, another Kiwi crewmember. The twelfth crewmember will be Tony Rey from the United States, both these guys are America’s Cup and Whitbread people. Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE